Musk’s Twitter purchase puts moral champion in crosshairs

Gadde has led efforts to battle bullying and posts that could lead to real-world harm such as the attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters. — AFP

SAN FRANCISCO: The fate of Twitter’s top attorney, deemed a moral champion of the platform, was in doubt on April 27 after Elon Musk tweeted displeasure with content moderation she had carried out.

Musk, the world’s richest man, has vowed to be a free speech absolutist when he takes control of the global messaging platform as part of a US$44bil (RM191.84bil) deal.

The lawyer, Vijaya Gadde, has led efforts to battle bullying and posts that could lead to real-world harm such as the attack on the US Capitol by supporters of former US president Donald Trump.

She was also involved in decisions such as removing political advertising from Twitter, and banning Trump from the platform for instigating the Jan 6 attack.

Musk on Tuesday criticised Gadde’s role in taking down a New York Post story about the overseas business dealings of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter ahead of the 2020 election.

The billionaire said that such a move was “incredibly inappropriate” in a tweet responding to another user’s post that included a Politico article detailing how Gadde had cried during a meeting about the Musk takeover.

In a sign Musk may do some housecleaning, he also responded to online criticism of another Twitter lawyer, stating that the individual had acted in a prior job at the FBI in a way that “sounds pretty bad”.

Musk has said he wants to increase trust in Twitter, which he sees as a digital town square for free speech and debate.

Key figures on the American left, including former president Barack Obama, have shed thousands of followers since Musk’s planned purchase of Twitter emerged, as users appeared to be following through on promises to leave the platform. Numbers have soared, meanwhile, for right-wing politicians.

Twitter co-founder and former chief executive Jack Dorsey has tweeted his support for Musk taking the company private, saying that his goal of creating a “maximally trusted and broadly inclusive” platform is the right one.

“In principle, I don't believe anyone should own or run Twitter,” Dorsey said in a string of tweets.

“It wants to be a public good at a protocol level, not a company.” – AFP